Shoe stretcher



Oct. 27, 1931. J w LONEY 1,828,742

SHOE STRETCHER Filed May 29. 1928 iPatented Oct. 27, 19 31" r MACHINE GOMPAVIJY, or PORTLAND,

AINE} A com ongA iiron or :MAINE I 512STREtrci IE i sired in the shoe and maintained'in this 10'- 5 cation. The illustrated stretcher has aheel j member sd the 'inventionprovide's a Strong and eflicient nnean'sjfor expanding ther fore p partfand preserving the distancebetvveenthe r p c p p Thefore parft'of the ill strated'stretcheris' p heel part and tore partviII'IIQthB,"idiscmsd "s stretcher each half f the; expansibl'e, fore part is hung on a [pair of toggle;linksthe1 power-operated ends of which are movedto- Ward each other at equal velocities by a right "and left handed screw: arrangement,,which "2 holds their" points of" connection to; the :fore

.Pert memb rs bng tu fe y' immovable; n the'shoe f f f In accordance with a further'feature of the invention, the illustrated stretcher may have 3 applied interchangeably. thereto QZ LQhQQi a "plurality of devices by the use of Which the stretcher is caused to applytothe shoe upper a localized pressure ofconsiderable amount.

a hereinillustrated, the devicesjreferredto ff 35 are in the'tform of sleeves,e'ach of whichymay beslipped overthe fore part of the stretcher,"

I one such device being adapted to cause the stretcher to exert pressure so localiiedjas to raise a depressed tofibogand'another such E devicejbeing adapted mexrt, localized 01111 ard pressure on the vamp ofthe shoe upper atthe 're'ar'of the to'e-ihox ;Th e devices're- V ferred to aredesigned to'be' slippedover the X5 closed,'that is not expanded, an'd'the defsiredlocalized pressure maybe effected inere l'vby forcing'the closed fore part of the stretcher having the 'device thereon into the fore part of the shoe. l

' '50 These and other features of the "connection with the'ih'ox toe raisingfdevice;

F155;?) 1s afsnnilar iewunconn am ".J'OHN w. LONEY, or BnocxrroN, MASSAGHUSETTSQAS'SIGNOR 'too, A, tannins 'e mb ii n e e k b iie n *iei d rangements of parts will be apparent from r the following. description of a preferred erhe ,b: I diment' of the invention shown the'dravvingsg,in which 7 s ffFig; 1 isa perspective-view of stretcher "embodying the invention a preferred 1 Fig; 2 is ssimil r;

with,

the vamp-seam-stretchingdevice;

. Fig.4 shows he device of Fig; 2 in ashoe i -fi s he devic QfF g- 8q e hoe; r lie 6 s re c qnel Plan iv'i wxt ke s new Fig:- l wrig, 1'

having, n i sfm d lej @ile emlyj x d boss' .16. Acylindrical plugof trunnion ngmxiii e li e :ber is'rotatahlyinounted' ineachholeL and is'ihelfd from slipping out by a screw threaded ititojit and projectinginto' a longitudinally elongated hole 22 in. the associatedffore part member, the hole thus 'permittingQthe .fore

pa'rt member tdrfomt on 18 around the itransvefr Se horizontal axis; thereof. The Q lt and E 1 i Q t 4 s ees tep tolimit'thisrotation;j; W e p u -ic i eee lv t K "forefand rearglinksgd, 28 are the P 251 jiT fiwo f rie l nke zearie p oted .ona' pin 32in a slot 34 in a' rnernber 36, which is internally right-hand threadedto e nmete a rishl r ed h q egi od or c fore part ofthe' stretcher when the fore part ,fpfii fi ns T d 1S nt a 1 y e on pin in the slotted: head e The li ks p 4 l al dinthe slot H ivotall-y mountci' f the r sp ng 'fe rlink 2 28, r d

pivotallv gmounted on the jcorrespondingpin "unit the rotatioii' ofthe iorefpart member on e};

rlink s-f8 are-pivotallvfnounted and the members" 36; 381; 4656ii ol horizontal axis transverse tothe fore part stitute an operating mechanism for the fore part. 7 If the rod 38 berotated one turn righthandedly, the member 34 and pin 32 will be pulledtoward the rod 38 by an amount equal to the pitch of the screws, while the screw 40 and pin 44 will be pushed away from the rod by the same amount. Thus, if the rod 38 be regarded as fixed in position the pins 32,

42 will approach each other at the same speed links, and the forepart members. 10 can, however,.swingrelatively.to each other about a members. by. virtue. of the mounting 1618,

thus. facilitating the insertionand use of the stretcher intol'a shoe irrespective ofits height of counter; q a

The rod 38 is operated by a handle 46 on its outer end on a reduced portion at? which begins ata shoulderor collar 48. Mounted on the reduced portion 47' is a freely rotatable sleeve 50 having ahandle 52. and an external coarse thread to accommodate a similarly threadedheel piece or. abutment 54. Turning the handIe}.52.wil1Yscrew the abutment along-the sleeve. and regulate its minimum distance from the fore part members 10.

In 'theuse of'lthe. deviceias an ordinary stretcher,the forefpart members are placed in. the. shoe and the abutment 545 is. screwed back against the counter of the shoe tov j the m'operdistance lfrom the. fore part memhers to, place them at that part of the shoe which it'is desired to stretch, The opera.- tion of the handle 46 will thenturn the rod 38 to spreadthefore part members, .as above described. The forepartmembers and plugs V 18 swivel freelyabout the verticalaxes of the 7 pins 20 and about the transverse horizontal axisio'f the trunnion plugs16, thus adjusting themselvesfreely to the fshapeofthe shoe and preventing over-stretching .o'ffportions adi'a 1 cent to the; tigl'itv portion, while thepins 20 remain at the same distance from the heel end of the shoe as thefore part members are spread, thus reserving the. initial adjustment of the stretcher.

q The invention also provides two devices s a'toebox, raising attachment :56. (Figs. 2

for Special purposes. The first. toloe described amid) This mayhave any desired external shape, corresponding to the] shapeof the shoes in whichit isto be used and is hollow.

l as shown in Fig. 2,to adapt it to beslipped over the closed fore part of the stretcher.

than the box raising tool 56, its perimeter The apparatus so assembled is placed in the shoe as before described, and the fore part with the box raising tool is pushed forward by means of the members 47-50-54, the fore part of the stretcher not being expanded. The member 56 is thus wedged under the toe box of the shoe and raises, it into its normal position. This procedure is illustrated in Fig. 4. It will be obvious that this same procedure, with or without thev tool.5t,. can be used to stretch the length of the shoe without affecting its width.

The other device above mentioned, which may be used alternatively, is a vamp-seamstretching attachment 58 (Figs. 3 and 5). This. device is also. hollow to adapt it to be slipped over the. closed fore part of the stretchenbut the'attachment 58 is larger 1ncreases rapidly toward the rear, and it is open at the front end to permit it to ride farther up on the fore part so that it may be positioned around the ball and just behind the toe box and under the vamp of a shoe into which. the fore part of the stretcher is inserted. It is designed to be. used in the same way as the device 56, with the stretcher fore part closed, the handle 52 alone being operated to forcethe stretcher forward in the shoe. Y

The appliances 56 and 58 arefboth; c'onstructedentirely to surround the forepart of the stretcher. Thus they can not. slip out of 'place when the stretcheris forced into the shoe and their smooth, continuous bottom Surfaces p Over theinsole of the shoe 'without catching or' scarring. [Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a shoe stretcher, apair of separable fore part members, an operating mechanism constructed and arranged to separate. the fore part members, each of said fore part members being pivotally connected to the operating mechanism solely at a point. substantial'ly distant from its ends in such manner as to permit free movement. about a vertical axis and the. operating mechanism being arranged to preserve unchanged the longitudinal location of the said intermediate pivoted points relatively to the operating mechanism as the mechanism is operated to separate the fore part members.

2. In a shoe stretcher, a pairof separable fore part. members, an operating mechanism ll constructed and arranged to. separatethe fore part members, the fore part members be ngpivot'ally connected .to. the. operating mechanism on a transverse horizontal axis whereby the operating mechanism may swing in a vertical plane relatively to. the fore part members and the operatlng mechanism being arranged to preserve. unchanged the location, longitudinally of operating 13 mechanism, of the pivotal connections of the fore part members members.

3. In a shoe stretcher, an operating mechanism, a heel member adjustably mounted thereon, a pair of relatively expansib-le fore part members pivotally connected to the operating mechanism at points between their ends, and means for moving the said points of pivotal connection laterally of the oper ating mechanism to spread the fore part members while preserving their distance from the heel member unchanged.

4. In a shoe stretcher, an operating rod, two pairs of links, arranged one pair on each side of the rod, the links of each pair having pivotally connected ends, a 'fo're part member connected to each pair of links at their junction in such manner as to permit" free movement about a vertical axis, pivots connecting the other-ends of one pair, oflinks to theother ends of the other pair, and means for moving the last two said pivots in opposite directions and at equal rates relatively to the rod.

a member threaded 5. In a shoe stretcher,

right and internally and externally with left-hand threads, respectively, second and of links, the pairs having ends pivotally mounted on the second and third threaded a members respectively, a pair of trunnion members each pivotally connected to a link of each of the said p -airs,-and a pair of fore part members one mounted on each trunnion member. r h

7. In a shoe stretcher, an opposite internally and externally threaded member, second and third threaded members engaging the a said internal and external threads respectively, two pairs of links, the pairs having ends pivotally and terminally mounted on the second and third members respectively, a' pair of coaxialcylindrical members, each pivoted to a link of each of the said pairs, and a fore part member pivotally mounted on each cy-,-

lindrical member.

8. In a shoe stretcher, an internally threaded slotted member, two links pivotally mounted at an end of each in the slot thereof, an externally. threaded rod arranged to be screwed into the threaded slotted member, said rod being also internallythreaded opas the operating mech-' anism is operated to separate the fore part over the toe ofthe part, a heel positely to but with the same pitch as 'its'fi outside thread, a third externally threaded c member arranged to bet-screwed into the threaded rod, a slotted head on thej'last named I;

threaded member, a second pair of links piv-j otally mountedat an end of each in the slot of the head, two slotted cylindrical coaxial trunnion members with their axes transverse- 1y horizontal, the other ends of the of links being pivoted in pairs the slots in two pairs the trunnion members respectively, and"two' v forepart members one pivotallymounted on each trunnion member.

1 9. In combination with a shoe stretcher having a fore part and means for forcing it 1nto ashoe, a sleeve arranged to be sllpped fore part of the stretcher and to surround completely a transverse Q cross-section of the fore part and to be pushed into a shoe by the fore part to shape the shoe. vl0. In combination with a shoe stretcher having afore part and means for forcing it into'a shoe, ahollow frusto-conic'al attachinent arranged'tobe slipped over'the'toe of the fore part and up to the instep portion;

thereof to stretch the shoe When driveninto it by the fore part, the perimeter of the attachment increasing rapidly toward itsrear I 1 7 end, whereby its stretching action will beconcentrated on the neighborhood of thevamp seam'of'the shoe.

' 11. A shoe stretcher comprlsing fore v slipped over the toe of the fore part, to be I member and means for separata lng them, and a member arranged to be" '100 carried forward in a shoe thereby and to sur round a transverse cross-section thereof comh of the stretcher.

In. testimony whereof I have signed my nameto this specification.

JOHN WpLONEYQ:

pletely, to enlarge the effective cross-section 

